She complemented Clyde’s criminal dealings by watching his accomplices and helping everyone plan the next heist. In fact, not one killing was ever connected to Bonnie Parker. Bonnie and Clyde were never, like John Dillinger or George Nelson (Baby Face Nelson), major criminals best known for their lack of hesitation in murdering anyone who crossed them, including several FBI agents. Not only were they teenagers during the depression, but also, they were part of movements through FDR’s New Deal to reestablish societal equality through government programs, and thus taught to believe that societal equality was possible.
Both were raised under Christian teachings, had parents and grandparents who struggled to keep food on the table for most of their adult lives, and had several volatile figures in their lives whose temperaments increased their anxiety. In the first chapter, Guinn reviews the typical early childhood of Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow. But after the murder of Murphy, public opinion turned against them, and they would be dead in six weeks. The press gladly reports on the tragedy, and Guinn dissects why depression era readers were “starved” for entertainment the story of Bonnie and Clyde was a welcome distraction from the hardship of everyday life. Due to a misunderstanding, Clyde ends up shooting and killing Murphy. In the mid-30s, they represented “scandalous glamor,” and the portraits of them that circulated through newspapers were flattering to their appearance, though in person, they were average looking and because of their various run-ins with the law, now had some physical disabilities. Bonnie and Clyde, twenty-three and twenty-four respectively, were already notorious bank robbers. Murphy, twenty-four years old, was to be married in twelve days. Guinn reviews the murder of one victim, H.D. The book’s themes include love, revenge, and rebellion against unjust societal institutions.
This new material includes family journals and new interviews with contemporary sources. Guinn’s work was praised for uncovering new material about the iconic pair from Dallas (Guinn is a native of Texas).
Go Down Together (2010) by biographer and investigative journalist Jeff Guinn offers a sweeping account of the iconic crime couple, Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow.
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